Imagine being taxed for every mile you drive

That’s a concept being discussed in California’s Bay Area,taxing driversfor every mile they travel.

The idea would be to encourage people to cut down on fuel consumption and raise funds for road repair, but we can imagine most drivers would not be pleased. That’s especially true if you’d be asked to install a device to measure your mileage in your car.

It’s called a Vehicle Miles Tax.

From the story in the San Jose Mercury News:

“I don’t want to say it’s pie in the sky. A VMT charge is really an option for the future to be looked at and considered,” said Randy Rentschler, spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the agency leading the effort. He said realistically the plan is so complex it might take a decade to implement if the public buys in.

How much you want to bet the public doesn’t buy in?

Tim O'Brien

18 Responses

This would not just encourage people to walk to the grocery store…it would discourage social visits, trips to the fair/show/festival…it would discourage people from driving to business corridors to buy from local, brick-and-mortar stores. It would raise the cost of every item that must be shipped. It would disproportionately hurt those who are stuck with a house they can’t sell and can only find a job many miles away. It would also disproportionately hurt all those who, for their job, must drive a lot…from reporters to sales reps. This is a terrible idea. Aren’t we taxed enough on our gas?

If the “big brother” problem can be solved, and it’s paired with offsets somewhere else so it’s tax-neutral to the average citizen, it could be a good thing. After all, a 50 mpg Prius takes up as much road space in a traffic jam as a 15 mpg Ferrari, but th Ferrari driver pays more gas tax. This would open the way to more equitable taxation based on how much pollution, congestion and pavement wear each vehicle causes.

We have spent 50 years overbuilding our roads and other infrastructure. This has built a wealthy suburbia, but now the Bill has come due. I don’t advocate VMT – it would create a whole new need for bureaucracy. The solution is one we don’t want: an increase in teh Federal Fuel Excise to 25 cents a gallon. It’s currently 18+ cents per gallon. 5 cents to transit, 20 cents to highways. People would pay an average of slightly less than a dollar per fill up, but it would help pay for infrastructural improvements that many places desperately need.

If this tax goes through then people will be buying fewer non essentials and taking fewer trips to the mall. Considering we’re being told to spend, spend, spend in order to bring the economy back up, this would not be a good move.

Also, not driving isn’t a viable option for our country; we are too large land wise and too spread out. If we were the size of a state, like most European countries, it would be different but we’re not!

How about making cleaner, more efficent cars? The knowledge and need has been around for at least 50 years. It’s time to take it to the source and tell the auto makers and oil companies to step up to the plate and do their jobs.

What if it REPLACED the fuel tax? Or at least was used as an alternative to raising it? The last time the federal fuel tax was raised was in Clinton’s first term. It hasn’t been adjusted for inflation, and the result is visible every time you drive pn a highway.

Tom, the conservative Reason Foundation is for it. Don’t assume something is a liberal idea just because you don’t like it.

Anne, car makers are already being required to raise fuel efficiency, and this is one of the problems with the current system. As people buy new cars and buy less gas, even less money will go into the highway trust fund.

How about this: the total tax on gas in NY is something like $0.62/gallon. If the average driver drives 13,500 miles per year and gets 25 miles per gallon, that’s $335/year. For our average driver, that’s about 2.5¢ per mile.

So what if no taxes where charged on gas? Instead, your car would tell the pump how far you’ve driven since the last time you got gas. The pump would multiply that times $0.025 and tell you how much you owe for road maintenance, and adit to your bill.

In 2008, Congress had to bail out the Highway Trust Fund, adding $8 billion from the general fund. In 2009, another $7 billion was added, and in 2010, $19.5 billion was needed.

Highway construction prices are heavily dependent on fuel costs. Fuel is needed to make Portland cement, run equipment, crush rock into gravel, etc. Asphalt is a petroleum product, and its price rises and falls like gasoline. The current federal fuel tax rate was set in 1993, when gas was about $1 per gallon. Now, it’s 3 1/2 times that. So is the price of asphalt.

The NY State Highway and Bridge fund is not in any better shape. So much money is being diverted to cover expenses like debt payments, salaries and snowplowing, that less than a quarter is going to the road and bridge projects.

NYSDOT barely has enough money to repair bridges. Don’t even mention paving. If you don’t believe me, take a ride out Route 85 to Rensselaerville, but go to your dentist and have your fillings checked first.

Most of the funding for local roads comes from property taxes. The 2% municipal tax cap is about 40% below the long term average inflation rate.

And, as electric cars, natural gas vehicles and hybrids become more popular, and automakers are required to increase the fuel economy of their cars, it’s only going to get worse.

I’m not sure I am 100% for a VMT tax, but the current system is failing, and something has to be done.

Yes punish people who don’t live in the city. Farmers don’t have enough to deal with let’s tax them even more. After all those who don’t live in the city have no choice.After all Do we really need Food?